page_title: Ballarat V/Line rail service
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Ballarat V/Line rail service / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Ardeer station
context_page_description: The Ballarat V/Line rail service is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves passengers between state capital Melbourne and the regional city of Ballarat. Beyond Ballarat it changes name to the Ararat railway line and the Maryborough railway line.
  The Ballarat service is the second busiest service in Victoria carrying 3.17 million passengers in the 12 months ended 30 June 2014.
context_section_description: V/Line once operated services to Horsham and Dimboola. Several rail stations such as Gordon and Warrenheip were closed in October 1981 as part of the New Deal timetable.  All services beyond Ballarat were withdrawn on 27 May 1994, and in 1995 the One Nation Program regauged the line beyond Ararat. The broad-gauge line between Ballarat and Ararat was closed to all traffic, with the broad-gauge passenger service from Ballarat to Ararat not reinstated until 2004 under the Linking Victoria program.
  In November 2004, Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks announced that the line would be renamed the Eureka Line to mark the 150th anniversary of the Eureka uprising. Due to take effect from late 2005 at the same time as the renaming of Spencer Street station to Southern Cross. The renaming was criticised by groups such as the Public Transport Users Association, and was never carried out.
  On 9 May 2009, Wendouree station to the west of Ballarat station opened.
  In December 2008, as part of the Victorian Transport Plan, the State Government announced passenger rail services to Maryborough would resume with services commencing on 25 July 2010.
  By 2009, a total of 48,000 passengers or an average of 1,000 per week were using the line between Ballarat and Ararat.
  Construction of the Caroline Springs station, between Deer Park and Rockbank stations, commenced in August 2015 and the station opened on 28 January 2017.
  An upgrade of the line began in early 2018 with major construction completed in late 2019. The project, with a budget of $518 million, saw the duplication of 17 kilometres of track between Deer Park West and Melton, upgrade stations at Rockbank, Bacchus Marsh and Ballan, and added a new station at Cobblebank, also adding passing loops at Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and near Bungaree. It paves the way for the future electrification of the line to Melton. The upgrade has enabled extra services in the morning and afternoon peaks between Melbourne and Ballarat.
caption: Ardeer station, with a train stopped at the platform
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